The End and the Beginning
by Mad Historian
Summary: A trip to an ancient tomb goes badly wrong, and Helen finds herself thrown back to the past. New time, new people and an entirely new way of life makes this difficult enough for Helen. The hardest part though, is that they expect her to save them from their enemies.


**Chapter One**

'Is everyone ready to go?' the teacher cried above the noise that the crowd of young adult students were causing on the outskirts of the looming forest. She got a few polite, and impolite, murmurs of 'yeah' from the group. 'Right then, off we go. No time to lose, we're already late by half an hour because it seems even at your age you still need your mothers to bring you your packed lunches. Everyone, stay together, it's about an hour's walk to the tomb, so make sure you all stick together.'

Off they all went. Into the dark and unknown, with a skinny professor attired in a too-big mini-skirt to guide them through the forest to a prehistoric tomb with only an old map. She had taken it from the maths teacher, who reassured her that it wasn't that out of date at all. Some looked back and saw the bus driver step out achingly out of the bus and commence to unwrap a snickers, which about half of disappeared into his large wiry beard.

Of course, as they were young, and as the forest was so eerily quiet, they spoke loudly and stupidly, to fill the void of silence. They could smell the dampness of the forest floor and heard the indistinct noises that accompany the silence of the trees. Off they marched, in search of a passage grave that their art history teacher so desperately wanted them to see.

Two of these intruders followed behind the group a little, and their voices betrayed their disagreement to those who were walking ahead.

These two had been bickering quietly at the back of the bus for the drive to the forest from the college. The boy, a tall six foot two lanky sort, raised his voice above the girl he was with.

'Why not? Is it because…' here he lowered his voice so that those ahead couldn't hear.

'What the hell, Tom! That is definitely not the reason this isn't happening. How could you even bring that up again?

Silence.

'Tom, you didn't tell anyone about this, did you?'

'What, course not, why would I tell anything so personal? That'd be so stupid. No way-

'WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! WHO THE FUCK DID YOU TELL YOU LUMBERING BRUTE. TELL ME!

'Seriously, babe, I didn't…'

'YOU TOLD THE WHOLE DAMNED SCHOOL DIDN'T YOU! ANSWER ME!

The teacher had started walking back towards the back, and the rest of the group had stopped walking too to look at the unfolding spectacle. Helen, the girl who had just been screaming, turned quickly towards her audience and screamed,

'Y'ALL FUCKING KNOW, RIGHT? WELL FUCK OFF THE LOT OF YOU'.

Here she stomped off right through the centre of the group, ignoring the imploring tugs from her friends and the murmurs of a few quiet 'sorry's' from the bunch. She disappeared into the dark of the forest, and you could just see her bright red coat as she fought against the annoying branches and twigs. No one went after her. No one would know what to say to such a private event having become so public. They let her steam off for a while, each hoping that she didn't go off too far.

They turned to look at Tom, all looking very disapproving.

'What?'

Xxxxx

'Goddamn idiot. Why the hell did he have to tell every bloody person that he bloody knows that he got laid, and moreover, how shit it went for me! It's all his fault anyway, git doesn't even know how to put on a stupid condom! Yeah, bet he left that bit out. Fucker. Fucking fucker with tiny fucking balls. Yeah, he can go fuck himself, when I'm done he's not ever going to find a goddamn girlfriend ever again…' Helen's thoughts were racing after what had just happened. Why did he have to tell everyone that? Yeah, he got laid. Not much had happened for her. Ugh. Her fault indeed. 'OUCH'. She hit her foot off a protruding rock. Feck.

Where even was she? She had stormed off about an hour ago and hadn't been careful to keep the group in sight. Crap. Of course. She was lost. Completely bloody lost. Just what she needed after that embarrassing interlude.

There was something particularly eerie about this forest, something about the way the leaves of the large trees created an almost impenetrable canopy, so that any light that could make it through was weak and dull, just allowing enough light for Helen to see by. The ground was also very soft, so that any noise within the forest was muffled, hence the silence.

So Helen walked quietly, wandering through the forest, going this way, then that way, seeing familiar forms and rocks that made her realise that she was going in circles, and still having seen no sign of the group. They couldn't be far, she kept telling herself, surely if she was careful to walk in a straight line for long enough, she'd end up somewhere on the edge, hopefully near the bus.

However, after another hour, or maybe just another ten minutes, she was starting to worry. She cursed under her breath as the forest got darker and wondered if she would be found in a few thousand years, on an archaeological dig, where some future people would discover her bones all stacked in a heap from where she had collapsed. What would they deduce about her from the remains they found? Her new gold watch may present to them the idea that she was a person of status within her community. How would they ever know that she had stolen this from her father's new ultra-chique girlfriend? Bitch. Helen was convinced that everything in her life started to go downhill ever since that snake-like blonde had wriggled herself into her parents' marriage.

It was dark now. Oh man. Crap and double crap with that. If only she had stuck with scouts, she would have known how to look after herself and avoid this bloody mess. She kept walking, a bit more quickly this time, which wasn't really helping. Hurrying never did a very lost person any good. So she walked, at a quicker pace, and could feel her heartbeat in her feet; they were so sore. There was a slight breeze, reminding Helen that the warm weather in this country was always temporary, and that the rain was on its way back again.

Right, she thought, I need to find shelter soon. Preferably now. She looked about and could only see the mess of trees that surrounded her. She walked a little further, and just ahead she could see. Was that a clearing? There was definitely an empty part of the forest, where the moonlight reached the leafy ground. She gathered her strength and ran towards it.

Well. Damn it. It was the stupid passage grave. She could tell because she could see the end of the path on the other side, and someone had left their red jumper on the top of it. She clambered up to the top. It was Tom's jumper. She picked it up and put it straight up to her nose and inhaled deeply. The boy was an ass, and not even this could make her forgive him, but she needed a bit of comfort out there, alone, in the woods. She noticed that there was also a piece of paper under a rock up there too. She lifted it up of the ground and saw that it was a note addressed to her. From the looks of the handwriting, which was the scrawly untidy sort, it was Maires, her closest friend from her course. It read:

Hey Helen,

Firstly, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? We're scared absolutely shitless just wondering where you are. Please God you're ok, and hopefully that's the case if you're reading this. Tom donated his jumper, and if you go to the front of the grave everyone has left something to help and entertain you if you have found this spot.

Christ, I hope you're alive. Ms. Lane is worried sick. We're all worried sick. We're going to ring the police once we get some signal, so there will definitely be a search party tomorrow. If you're here, stay here! So just make sure you look after yourself tonight. Fionn left some instructions on how to build a bivouac, but says that if it's already dark, you might be better off sleeping in the tomb. Cross my heart it's not too bad, they removed the remains ages ago, so it's just you and the grave. You'll be fine. Promise. Just don't do anything stupid. Alright, hold on chicken, we'll have you back in no time.

Maire (and the rest of the class)

Maire was right, it was too dangerous at this point to just follow the path back out, she should stay here where the police could find her. She descended from the top of the tomb and then walked around to its entrance. The sight in front of her made her smile, despite what she had been through. There, there was a pile of random objects that her friends had left her, some practical, some just a distraction. She was particularly happy with the book someone had left behind. She picked it up. 'Daniel Deronda' by George Eliot. This was Laura's book, and had seen her reading it on the bus, completely unaware of the bustle and noise around her, completely immersed in that story. It certainly was a meaty book, but Helen seemed to be the only one besides Laura that actually knew of the existence of these types of books. Anyway, she was grateful, she wasn't sure how she felt about sleeping in a tomb at night and alone. The book would allow her to not think about it at all. It's funny, as much as she was grateful for the hoodies, the squished sandwiches, the Fanta, the iPod and all the rest, she would have to say that the book was certainly the gift that made her feel a lot more comfortable. She gathered as much as she could in her arms and entered the tomb. She peeked inside and realised how dark it was in there. She took another look at the stuff her friends had left behind. Ah, there it was, someone had forseen this problem and had left her a mini torch, the type that you have as a keyring accessory. Tiny, but bright, as she discovered when she switched it on. She took a deep breath, and she walked in.

A strange feeling overcame her as she walked in. She thought it would be creepy, and it was, but there was also a comforting feeling that warmed her heart as she crouched through the narrow passage to the central chamber. The closeness of the stones seemed to hug her and protect her from the dangers and difficulties of the outside. No wonder they built these places to bury their dead, where could be a better place to put the remains of someone you loved? Such a cosy space, a place where their soul could somehow still be reached in this otherworldly place. She reached the central chamber, which had a high vaulted ceiling and three niches, all containing a basin. Of course, the remains were now in the archaeological museum, but still, seeing those basins reminded Helen of the purpose of this tomb. Still, she didn't mind anymore, and she was just so tired, could feel the tiredness scream in all her limbs, her head, her heart. What a day!

She decided to lace herself in the front niche, behind the basin. She laid down some of the jumpers, put some on, and made herself as comfortable as she could. She was hungry, and remembered she hadn't been able to bring all the stuff inside at once, so went back out to retrieve it. She created a sanctuary for herself. She made some jumpers into cushions by rolling them and folding them. She placed the torch carefully beside her, so that she wouldn't lose it, and so that it illuminated to the best possible effect the little niche. She was reluctant to use the light on her phone, scared it would lose battery and then she would really be in a pickle. Helen, when she put everything in its nice new place, was quite content with her situation. She felt loved, with everything her friends had left behind, and this tomb was better than sleeping in the dark. She ate her sandwiches (particularly good ones, with bacon, egg mayonnaise, salad, tomatoes, black olives and pickles. She suspected these were a donation from Molly, a well-fed girl whose mother was apt to believe her children might starve unless she was the one who prepared the meals. Well, in this case, Molly had gone home hungry, and Helen was very grateful to her). So, Helen sat there in the tomb, with only a small light, a book and dozen jumpers for company.


End file.
